Defying the Gods
by Silenced by Chronos
Summary: A truce between Heaven and Hell is made; they've made an agreement that the Princess of Heaven is to be married to the Prince of Hell when he turns 18. What happens when that prince is Hyuuga Natsume? AU. OOC. --Kind of slow-plotted-- R&R please.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

**Warning: OOC (Out of Character) & AU (Alternate Universe): no complaints on how Natsume isn't like this or Mikan isn't like this or that because I already said that this story is OOC: because it's just fan fiction anyway.  
**

* * *

-

_"A forbidden kiss burns hotter than fire."_  
_-Anonymous_

-

A truce was formed between Heaven and Hell to keep peace between the two forces. It was agreed that when the daughter of the Heavens above was born, she was to be married to the son of the fiery inferno below the earth when the he turned eighteen in human years. It was soon prophesied that this agreement is what would become the down fall of both the gods of Heaven and of Hell. But both the gods of Heaven and Hell just laughed at the prophecy and mocked it saying, "How could such a thing happen?" And they continued their merry ways, drinking and enjoying themselves day by day, night by night.

It was foolish of them not to have heeded the warning that they were given, but they found out when it was too late. Seventeen years have passed and the Prince of Hell stood all powerful and mighty. His mesmerizing beauty was almost at its peak, and his powers were second to none. The gods of Hell were proud, knowing that the prince would soon take over the throne and become a great ruler, exceeding those before him. This prince was Hyuuga Natsume.

But one thing had gone terribly wrong. No god knew about it; not the gods of Hell nor the gods of Heaven—no one knew about his love for a nymph on Earth. She was a nymph of a cherry blossom tree: the largest and oldest cherry blossom tree which sat in the midst of others near a river. The nymph was called Sakura Mikan. She was well-known for her beauty: her long brown hair which smelled of a sweet fragrance, her smooth porcelain skin, and her face which was beautiful beyond compare. But she was more so known for her gentle and kind nature, and how she easily made others happy by merely smiling.

It was at that nearby river, when she was bathing one day, that Natsume saw her. He immediately became captive of her beauty. She fell for him the instant that she saw him as well. But it was only after they really got to know each other and after a lot of arguing that they really fell for each other. There was only one problem: their love was forbidden; Natsume was well aware, but he couldn't help falling deeper and deeper in love with the nymph. He thought: why he should marry a daughter of the Heavens who he hasn't even met or seen _once? _He decided to do what he wanted, not knowing that their love would also be ill-fated. Despite his cold attitude toward everyone, he couldn't help being at least a little nice to her; she seemed so fragile, as if she would break because of the smallest things.

Today, he came to visit Mikan once again. When he arrived, she was sitting under a tree, waiting patiently for him. It was twilight, and she looked as beautiful as ever.

"Mikan," Natsume whispered, approaching her from behind and hugging her.

"Good evening, Natsume," she laughed softly. "How has the prince been today so far?"

"Don't even ask. Everyone keeps trying to suck up to me because I'm the prince. I want to burn them all. Hear their cries of agony, pleading to be saved. They're all so fake. It's annoying."

Mikan sighed. "Natsume. . . I need to talk to you. Seriously."

"What happened? Did another one of those humans try to take you away?" Natsume thundered. He didn't want anyone to touch his beloved Mikan.

She shook her head, her brown locks swaying in the same motion. "No, it's not that. . . It's something else." She looked at him and tried to smile, but her attempt was futile. Her countenance had a sad expression and her eyes showed sorrow. "Time is almost up. . . You're going to turn eighteen in a few months. . . The agreement between Heaven and Hell. . . You have to get married to the daughter of the Heavens or else. . . War will be waged between the two and it'll be all my fault for stealing the heart of Hell's Prince."

"No," he said in a straight forward manner. "I won't let those idiots decide how my life is going to be."

"But, Natsume—"

He cut her off and said, "Let's run away together, alright? To the Land of Alices. They can't deny our love there. No power can defy that of the Alices."

She looked at him, bewildered. "Are you serious?" Her mouth was hanging partially open. She couldn't believe that Natsume wanted to go there. It was almost impossible to get there. Everyone knew that, and she, being a nymph, knew more than anyone else how hard it was to get to the land of Alice.

Humans have tried to get there, but none succeeded. Even the gods found it difficult to get there, so they gave up. Why would the gods try to get there, you ask? Because they were greedy and hungered for more power. But most importantly, there was a well-known gate that blocked the path to the Land of Alices. It would ask for something important for one to be able to pass; not something important but rather, the most important thing to the one who wished to pass, whether it was something tangible or intangible—or even if it was a person. Everyone was too greedy to give up what they treasured the most; the earth that she walked on told her how the gates requested the person who was most beloved to cold-hearted people, but even though those people would easily kill anyone, they weren't able to complete their task because they didn't care about anyone enough. The earth could "talk" to Mikan because it was associated with nature, and she was, after all, a nymph.

"Of course I'm serious. Tonight."

"O-Okay..."

"Don't worry, it'll be alright." He smiled and kissed her forehead, then disappeared, returning to the Underworld.

Mikan's forehead creased with worry. She was still overwhelmed by the fact that she was going to run away with the the prince of the world beneath her. Of course, she was scared. everybody would finally know about their forbidden love. If the gods caught her, then it would all be over. As for Natsume. . . She shrugged, not wanting to think about what punishments they would give to her beloved. She was determined to get to the Land of Alices. She didn't want to be less determined than Natsume when he was giving it his all. He was going to give up everything for her, so she should try her best, too. After all, he was a prince and she was just a nymph.

Natsume sprinkled sleeping dust on all the inhabitants of the Underworld, leaving them all fast asleep. No one knows how, but he managed to do the same to the inhabitants of the world above. He took his sword which was made especially for him by the best blacksmiths that there ever were, but didn't bring a shield for protection. He thought that he would kill all his enemies before they even had a chance to attack.

He went to meet Mikan again, in the darkness of the night.

"The stars and the moon are our only witnesses," he told the brunette upon meeting her.

She nodded and smiled. "Let's get going. We can't afford to waste time."

And their journey began.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** I was planning on making this story a one shot, but I don't know. Should I delete this and then re-post the whole story as just one chapter? I don't think that it'll be long anyway. This chapter was short but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway. I also got a new pen name. :) ...Again.  
**

**Ja,**

**-Aimee**


	2. 1: Ravinia

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

**Warning: OOC (Out of Character) & AU (Alternate Universe): no complaints on how Natsume isn't like this or how Mikan or whoever isn't like this or that because I already said that this story is OOC: because it's just fan fiction anyway.  
**

* * *

-

**Chapter One: Ravinia  
**

**-**

"Don't let go of my hand," Natsume instructed. Mikan nodded and held onto his hand tighter. She was wearing a brown cloak that covered her from her shoulders down to her feet. She was wearing the hood of the cloak to hide her face as well. "We're almost there, to Ravinia."

Soon they stepped out of the dark forest and arrived outside. It was day break and the birds were chirping loudly. The entire town could be seen perfectly from where they were currently standing. The castle near the town amazed Mikan with its great size and pleasant appearance. Mikan pulled her hood off and inhaled the fresh scent of the morning. She smiled, delighted at how nature was at peace here.

Natsume's eyebrows furrowed. He immediately walked to Mikan's side and yanked the hood of her cloak back onto her head. "I told you not to take it off unless I said so." Natsume scowled. He thought that you can never be too careful. Word would soon be out that the nymph of the great cherry blossom tree and Hell's Prince had eloped and people would try to find them for rewards or who knows what the gods offered. Not many knew how Natsume looked like, but most people knew about Mikan. She would also be the easier target, so he had to take great care of her.

"Sorry," Mikan muttered sheepishly.

"Idiot. Just don't do it again, okay?" He planted a light kiss on her forehead.

"Okay." She smiled and brightened up a bit.

"We'll rest at the nearby town. I have someone that I need to see there as well."

The town was noisy. Customers were trying to bargain for food and whatnot. Mikan looked around at the open stores and the windows of other stores that showed things like clothes with a style that she's never seen before. A pair of earrings caught her eye. The earrings were small, gold hoop earrings with a red stone in the middle. She wanted them; the dazzling red color reminded her of Natsume's eyes.

Natsume stopped walking to see what the brunette was staring at. "Did you see something you wanted, Mikan?"

"Huh? Oh, no. It's nothing, really," she said and faced him again. "I just found some of these things interesting since I haven't seen them before," she said, partially lying.

He raised an eyebrow at her and continued walking past the crowd of people, dragging Mikan by her hand.

In a place where there were much fewer people, Natsume opened the door to a somewhat large inn and entered after letting Mikan in. He whispered something to the inn keeper and she immediately led Natsume to a room and handed him a key. The inn keeper told Natsume something before she left, but it was too low for Mikan to hear.

The raven-haired prince inserted the key in the lock and went inside the room with Mikan. It didn't _seem _like anything special; just a queen-sized bed and a few furniture here and there.

"Can I take off my hood now?" the brunette asked.

Natsume nodded. "Just keep the curtains down if you're not going to wear it and put it back on if you decide to put up the curtains or open the windows or something." He turned towards the door. "Stay in here until I come back, okay?" Natsume ordered in a monotonous tone.

Mikan tilted her head to the side. "Why?" She might be a bit older than Natsume, but she didn't know much about the rest of the world. For her entire life she stayed at her cherry blossom tree and the river near it. She only knew so much about the rest of the world based on what the earth told her—and from what she's heard so far, it wasn't so bad. Mikan didn't know about the cruelty and the darkness of people and other creatures. The only bad things that she's heard about from the earth was about the gate and a few monsters killing people and animals, and those people and animals' bodies became one with the earth again.

"Just do it," he said coldly. He didn't have the time to explain to her. They needed to get things done as soon as possible and continue on their way to the Land of Alices. They still had a long way to go. He also didn't want to explain to her how evil people and certain creatures were, knowing that she wasn't aware of much.

Mikan huffed. "Fine."

"I'll see you later," he said a bit more nicely. He kissed her lips softly and left.

He went back to the inn keeper. Her name was Umenomiya Anna. "He's waiting for you in room 133," she told him. Natsume nodded and thanked her then proceeded to the designated room. He knocked on the wooden door thrice and entered.

Natsume shut the door closed and put up a wall of fire before him just as her entered, hearing the eerie cries of burning demons. When their cries finally ceased, he let the wall of fire disappear. Natsume grinned at the small person who was sitting down comfortably. "Yo."

The person had grey hair and dark, onyx-colored eyes. He jumped off of his chair, standing approximately four feet tall. "As expected of Natsume-sama," he said, grinning back at Natsume. "No one can burn my demons except for you and that wretched fire of yours. I expected nothing less from the soon-to-be king of the world below." He jumped off of his chair and approached Natsume, then kneeled before him. "It's an honor to be summoned by you yet again."

"It's good to see you again too, You-chan," Natsume replied.

The small person before before him was Hijiri Youichi, a sorcerer. He was mainly a demon summoner but was still known as one of the best mages or sorcerers known. He was older than he seemed. He only had the form of a child because a rival sorcerer cast a spell on him, making him stuck in his child form forever or until the one who put the spell on him decided to remove the spell. He's searching for that person so that he can regain his original body, but he wasn't in a rush. It's not like he was going to die any time soon anyway.

"You probably already know about my situation," the fire caster said and took a seat.

"Ah." Youichi nodded and took a seat across from Natsume. "I've heard, but not many know about it yet."

Natsume looked at Youichi with an expression that Youichi didn't understand. He might be smart and a great wizard and all that, but he never was able to understand the mysterious prince who was sitting across from him. "Where's the girl?" he asked, wanting to see the so-called nymph in person. He wondered if she was as beautiful and as kind as he's heard.

"Upstairs. I put her in a room charmed with protection."

"Ah," he said again, forming his calm and collective face.

"I need your help, You-chan," said Natsume. He knew that Youichi didn't like being called 'You-chan,' but he was already used to it. Natsume couldn't help but call the little guy 'You-chan' because of his appearance. No matter how hard he tried, Youichi still seemed like an adorable little kid with a poker face. Sometimes he felt like Youichi was his younger brother. Youichi was one of the precious figures in his life. He also _insisted _that Youichi call him 'Natsume nii-chan or nii-san,' just for the hell of it.

"It's about Mikan," he started. "I need you to make an Alice Stone for me. For her protection. There might be times when I'm unable to protect her for myself, and when those times come, I want her to be protected from harm. She just looks so fragile that I can't help but worry about her." A troubled expression came upon his face. "She can be so dense and so stupid at times too that I feel like I always have to watch over her, like a little kid or something."

"Okay," the child-like person said. "I'll give you the best Alice Stone I've created so far, since it is, after all, for Natsume-sama—I mean, Natsume _nii-san_'s most important person." He jumped off of his chair again and headed toward the door. "Let's go. It's at my house. If I made one right now then it probably wouldn't be of the best quality and we can't settle for that now, can we?"

The expression in Natsume's eyes brightened up a bit. He followed Youichi. He had to get that Alice Stone right away and give it to his beloved Mikan. He was going to give her three Alice Stones; three Alice Stones that he thought were the most powerful and useful for Mikan. Of course, he trusted Youichi and his power, so he only needed two more to get.

--

Mikan stared at the thing called a 'clock' that was on the wall. It was invented by some genius named Imai Hotaru and told the time without the use of the sun. It was created about a few years ago, and people became very fond of it.

She sighed and sat up on the bed. _It's been three hours since he left already, _she thought. She placed the hood of her brown cloak back on. _Natsume won't mind if I leave for just a _little_ while, _she thought and snickered. She tried to open the door but it was shut tight. "That Natsume," she breathed out. "Why did he lock me in this place?"

She walked to the window and looked down. "Perfect," she said to herself. She wasn't too high up and there was a narrow space that she could land on. It was an alley sort of place, so no one would see her escape. _I'll just come back in a few minutes, _she told herself and climbed onto the window sill, getting ready to jump down. She unconsciously used her Nullification Alice, (which no one knew she possessed, not even Mikan herself knew), canceling out the protection charm that was enchanted on the room and jumped closed her eyes, getting ready for the impact of her feet with the ground.

She landed on her feet but soon fell over and sat on the not-so-soft ground. "Itai," she said and rubbed her arse. She smiled, realizing that her escape was a success. She walked out of the alley-like place and began exploring the new town on her own.

Mikan wandered off, getting farther and farther away from the inn. She didn't even notice since she was enticed by the bizarre things around her. She got carried away by the massive crowd and was pushed here and there.

_Maybe it's time I headed back, _she decided soon enough and turned around to walk back to the inn. It simply wouldn't do if Natsume got back to the inn and she was gone. She frowned, already being able to picture how Natsume would look like and what he would do once he found out that the room that he left her in was empty. To describe the situation in one word, it would be:** CHAOTIC**.

Much to her dismay, the inn was nowhere in sight when she looked back. The brunette began to panic. She didn't notice that she already wandered so far away from the inn. She calmed down and thought of an idea to get back to the inn. _I know! I'll ask people around here where it is. . . _It then dawned her that she didn't even know the name of that inn, but she decided to ask people around her anyway.

"Excuse me," she said to a couple of people, but was just ignored and shoved around by most. "Do you know where the inn is?" she asked a few people, but the way she described it was just too vague, and there were a lot of inns in Ravinia that fit her description. Disappointed, she then decided to look for it herself.

But as we all know, Mikan has a _very _poor sense of direction.

She panted, tired of walking around everywhere and being pushed by people who thought she was in their way. She frowned a bit.

She leaned against a tree and sat down on the ground. "How did I even get here?" she asked no one in particular. She smiled once she calmed down. She was worried about what Natsume would do, albeit she couldn't help but smile at the scenery before her. She knew that she was just further away from the inn now because the huge castle that she saw earlier was now so close. She thought that it looked simply beautiful.

She stood up and ran in a field of wild flowers. The wind blew off her hood briefly, but she immediately put it back on. Her eyes darted left and right, looking if anyone was nearby and if they saw her face. She let out a sigh of relief, realizing that no one was anywhere in sight.

What she didn't know was that someone _did _see her face and was awestruck by her beauty. He was standing behind a tree not so far away and was hiding from certain people; he was wearing a cloak just like her, except his was more of a beige color. His dark purple eyes lingered on her figure. He wondered why she wore a cloak and hid her beauty.

Mikan sighed and walked away from the field of flowers. _I'd better try to get back to the inn now. _She walked to the nearest store she found and went in. The cloaked person followed her, curious as to where she was going. The bell on top of the door jingled when she opened it and entered the store.

"Excuse me," she said to the shop owner.

The bell jingled again. Someone else entered.

"Do you know where the big inn with the red roof is?" she asked and began describing the inn where she was supposed to be right now.

The shop owner snorted and answer her rudely: "How the hell would I know?" He grabbed Mikan's wrist and pulled her close to him. She let out a high shriek. "Why are you wearing that cloak anyway, huh, girlie?"

"P-Please let go," Mikan said in a shaky voice. _Someone help me, _she thought. But the only other person there aside from her and the shop owner was the cloaked guy who entered right after her. His back was turned to her. _Natsume said not to let anyone see my face or else we'll be in real trouble. . . _Tears started to form in her eyes. The man reached out his hand to remove her hood and see what a freakshow she was.

He stopped immediately, feeling a cold, hard blade against his throat. The person wearing the beige cloak had his hood off, revealing a good-looking guy with ebony hair and dark purple eyes. Below his left eye was a star-shaped mark. "What has Ravinia become?" he asked rhetorically and shook his head in dismay. "Release the lady," he commanded, and the shop keeper did as he was told.

"I-I'm sorry, Andou-sama!" He went down on his knees and begged for forgiveness.

Mikan hid behind him, relieved that the man didn't get to see her face. She examined her rescuer and looked at him from head to toe. _Andou-sama..?_

"I'll go lightly on you for your disrepect. Leave this town as soon as possible and never speak to anyone about this matter."

"H-Hai!" the shop owner answered.

"If you do," the man with the sword gestured that the shop owner will be killed.

_Who exactly is this man? _Mikan wondered. She didn't know whether to think of him as good or bad. He _did _save her, but then again, he _did _threaten to kill the man for doing something not so critical to her. Well, it was critical to Mikan, but the Andou guy didn't know that. . .Right?

The one called Andou used his Shadow Manipulation Alice and scribbled something on his shadow, letting the shop owner stay kneeling on the ground for two hours. He exited the shop and Mikan tagged along.

"You're lost, am I right?" he smiled at her.

"Yeah..." Mikan looked down at the ground and worried about Natsume again.

"Come with me," he said and pulled her by her wrist. He didn't really give her a chance to decline, but he seemed like a good person so Mikan followed him obediently.

They arrived at the front gate of the enormous, white castle. "Open the gate!" the ebony-haired man shouted. A guard from a watch tower looked at him and his eyes widened. He answered, "Yes, sir! Immediately!" And the gate was opened.

_Sir..? _Mikan looked at her savior's face again.

Another guard approached him and said, "You should stop sneaking out of the castle as you please, King Tsubasa."

"Yeah, yeah," Tsubasa muttered and added, "And I told you not to call me 'King!' Tsubasa-sama or just plain Tsubasa is fine."

Mikan, who was now standing beside him gaped at him with wide eyes. "Ehh?! You're the King of Ravinia?!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Chapter two is finally done. How was it? I didn't proofread it because I'm tired and am going to sleep now. I'll proofread it tomorrow, when I get home from school or something. Hope you enjoyed it! Like I'm trying to do with my other fics, I'll try to update this on a weekly basis. But I probably won't update next week because I'm going my senior trip! Yay for me. :)  
**

**Review please.  
**

**Ja,**

**-Aimee**


	3. 2: Masquerade Ball

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

**Warning: OOC (Out of Character) & AU (Alternate Universe): no complaints on how Natsume isn't like this or how Mikan or whoever isn't like this or that because I already said that this story is OOC: because it's just fan fiction anyway.  
**

* * *

-

**Chapter Two: Masquerade Ball  
**

**-**

Natsume walked out of the jewelry shop that he and Mikan passed by earlier. Youichi followed behind him. It was almost sundown and they were finally headed back to the inn.

Of course, the fire caster couldn't wait to be reunited with his precious brunette. He increased his pace; he couldn't help but feel uneasy for some reason, as if something happened to Mikan.

He shook his head, denying the possibility that anything could have happened to her. She was locked up in the room with a protective spell cast on it, so nothing dramatic could have happened to her during the short time that he left her there, right? Sure, she was armed with clumsiness, curiosity, and boredom, but even she wouldn't be able to get into _that _much trouble in such a short amount of time, right? Natsume's eyebrows furrowed and he walked even faster, getting more and more worried as each second passed. Only one thing repeated in his mind: _"Mikan no baka."_

He slammed the inn door open and hastily made his way upstairs. He passed each room, getting more and more annoyed, thinking why the hell her room was all the way at the end. After what seemed like forever, he got to the last room in the corridor, all the way at the end. He reached into his pocket and shoved the key into the key hole.

"Mikan!" he yelled once the door opened.

No answered was heard.

He surveyed the room for her long brown hair, her large chocolate brown eyes, her stupid brown cloak, anything that showed that she was there. Unfortunately for him, she was nowhere to be seen. The open window caught his eye.

"_She couldn't have_," he thought, his eyes widening. He rushed to the window and looked at the height. "Shit!" He felt like killing someone at the moment. "Aaargh!" he yelled in frustration and set the bed on fire. Within a few seconds, it turned to ashes. "That idiot! Where could she be now?" he fumed.

Youichi stood quiet in the background, knowing it was best not to say anything. He watched Natsume sit himself down on the chair and rub his temples. He stepped out of the room, knowing that Natsume was going to do some "minor" chaotic actions in a matter of a few seconds.

They were wanted, so he couldn't make a search party to find her faster. He had no choice but to search for her himself. The sound of a broken glass or clay-like substance was heard: the flower vase that was on the table was smashed into pieces on the floor. Natsume got up from the chair and violently kicked the table in front of him against the wall, breaking it. He jumped out of the window to look for Mikan before anything bad or anything worse happened to her (if something bad already happened to her). Nighttime was quickly approaching and it would be harder to look for her in the dark. It also meant more trouble at night, when all the shady characters were about the streets.

_"Mikan..."_

--

Tsubasa scratched the back of his head and said to the brunette, "Is it really that surprising that I'm the king?" He eyed the girl up and down, his eyes examining the brown, full-length cloak that she was wearing. It was still unknown to him why she wore such a thing. "Nevermind about that," he said and began walking toward the castle. "You need help getting back somewhere, right? Then help you shall get."

Mikan trailed behind the man she met just moments ago, who also happened to be her savior. Yes, she needed help. Badly. She started panicking once again, images of Natsume wrecking havoc and creating chaos coming to mind.

A bespectacled man with cropped grey hair walked quickly to Tsubasa's side and whispered, "Tsubasa-sama, who is she?" He was known by the name Megane and was Tsubasa's chancellor.

The shadow manipulator chuckled. "A girl."

His chancellor frowned. "There are plenty of girls in Ravinia. What makes her different from all the ones you've seen so far?"

Tsubasa looked at Megane with an amused grin. "She's interesting. Very interesting, indeed..."

The grey-haired man stopped in his tracks and stared at Tsubasa with surprise. He pushed his glasses up from the bridge of his nose. He looked at the cloaked girl, who was still trailing Tsubasa and was getting farther away with each second. Megane followed with a slow, constant pace and thought, _I wonder what's so special about this... This girl... _It was puzzling to him how a girl whose face couldn't even be seen had caught his king's attention when several others couldn't even make him look at them. Tsubasa has had several balls and parties and women have tried to catch his attention in hopes of becoming the potential future queen of Ravinia. They were beautiful, smart, talented--yet he would have none of them.

"Um," the brunette said, "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you helping me? If you're the king of Ravinia then surely you have much more important matters to attend to." She tilted her head to the side. She appreciated his help, but she most certainly didn't want to be a burden.

Tsubasa looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Can a king not help those who are in need in his kingdom?"

"Well, he can but..."

A playful smirk appeared on his face. "Would you like to pay for my service then? I mean, service of helping you out. You won't have to pay me with money or any material thing at all." He looked at her from head to toe and back. "Your 'payment' probably wouldn't even affect you at all."

"Anything," Mikan breathed out cheerfully.

"Your hood. Take it off."

She froze.

"Is there anything wrong?" Tsubasa asked.

"Well, is there anything else _except _that?"

Tsubasa shook his head. "No."

"But..."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you said _anything._" He heard a sob.

"But... Natsume, he... I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm really sorry..."

_"Natsume?"_ he thought, his curiosity piqued even more. "Then how about you join me tonight, at the masquerade ball. You will still have your face concealed since everyone will have to wear masks and all. That won't be a problem, right?" He was determined to get her to stay with him, even if it was just a while longer.

"But I really have to get back as soon as possible-" she tried to reason but Tsubasa wouldn't listen.

"Great. I'll have someone attend to you," said the king, not giving the nymph a chance to decline. He clapped his hands twice and told Megane to escort her to a room and have someone called Misaki attend to her. "I'm looking forward to seeing you," he said and left Mikan there in a somewhat hectic situation. She really didn't have the time for any of this.

"I really have to go now, I'm sorry. I'll just go and try to look for the inn by myself," Mikan said as Megane was ushering her to a room.

"Sorry, milady, but orders are orders. Besides, it'll be very dark out soon and a lady like you simply can't go out by yourself, where it's dangerous." He gently shoved her into the room with its door open and closed the door.

Mikan sighed. She leaned against the door and slid down to the floor. "What am I supposed to do now?" she asked herself, tears beginning to form in her chocolate brown eyes. "Natsume, I'm sorry," said the brunette as if her beloved could hear her. She scolded herself, telling herself how she should have listened to Natsume and how much of an idiot she was.

"Um, excuse me," came a cheerful feminine voice.

Mikan looked up to see who was talking to her. It was a pink-haired girl whose hair fell down to her shoulders and was slightly older than her; maybe around Tsubasa's age. She wore a simple dress, but she looked wonderful nonetheless. "_What a pretty woman,_" the brunette thought. "Yes?" Mikan asked in a quiet voice.

"My name is Harada Misaki and I'll be taking care of you tonight." Misaki smiled at Mikan and held her hand out for Mikan. Mikan grabbed her welcoming hand and was helped up. "We don't have much time, so we need to act fast," she said. In an instant, there were five Misakis in the room instead of just one.

Mikan's eyes bulged a bit. "H-How did you... When did..."

"I have the Doppelganger Alice," Misaki said as two of them took Mikan into the bathroom and started to undress her."What are you doing wearing this baggy old cloak anyway?" The pink-haired girl said and pulled Mikan's hood off. "_Woah._" Misaki was certainly caught by surprise: she knew that there was something special about Mikan but she didn't think she would be anywhere looking _this _beautiful. "Ah, please cooperate so we can finish as soon as possible," the real Misaki said and continued to undress Mikan.

"Yeah. We still have your hair to do and everything," the other Misaki, Misaki Doppelganger #1 (MD #1) said and helped undress Mikan.

"P-Please stop," Mikan pleaded, a blush spread out on her cheeks. She wasn't used to being pampered like this that she was even going to be bathed by someone. It was actually quite embarrassing for her. It also felt kind of weird how Misaki's scarlet eyes were looking at her once her hood had been taken off.

"Iie, we have to make you look just perfect for the ball," Misaki said and put Mikan into the tub with MD#1's help. It was already filled with warm water by MD#1. "No wonder Tsubasa seemed so interested in you. You look beautiful," Misaki said while washing Mikan's hair. A look of pain came across her face.

"No, you've got it all wrong."

Both Misakis let out a laugh. "Don't be silly. I've known Tsubasa since we were kids. I used to play with him in the palace gardens," she said sounding a bit boastful to Mikan. "He even invited me to live in luxury inside the castle, but I can't do that. I'm just a dancer who tries to entertain his majesty and help out as much as I can. It doesn't matter if we're childhood friends. Only relatives of his majesty and the queen can live in luxury in the castle. Others aren't allowed." She winced when she said the word 'queen.' She poured water on Mikan's head and began scrubbing her clean. "You have nice, soft and fair skin," she complimented.

"Thank you," the brunette replied. "I think Misaki-san is very pretty."

"Sure, but I'm nothing compared to you. To be honest, I was really surprised when Tsubasa seemed interested in an outsider, let alone a _girl._ He never really showed any liking to much girls before, even the richest and prettiest ones that came from far lands." She began to scrub Mikan's back harder.

"Misaki-san, that hurts." The brunetted frowned.

"Oh, sorry," the pink-haired girl sid once she realized what she was doing.

"Anyway, I don't know myself why he's intrigued by a nymph like me," Mikan admitted sheepishly.

"Ehhh- You're a nymph?"

"Yes..."

Misaki shook her head. "I guess it's not too surprising. It's just that nymphs rarely come to Ravinia because of how many of them were mistreated by drunk men at night." Mikan was taken out of the tub and wrapped along in a towel. "Come along now. We don't have much time."

They returned to the room where the other two Misakis were. And so began the chaotic time of the five Misakis trying to dress up Mikan with different dresses that they liked.

After a lot of arguing, they decided on letting the nymph wear an intricately designed white dress that reached down to the ground. Her hair was put up a bit with a few pins and was curled at the ends. Of course, she was also wearing a beaded white mask that covered the area around her eyes and near the bridge of her nose. Misaki, on the other hand, lost her doppelgangers and was wearing a simple pink carnation dress. Her mask was a flaring red color that seemed very lively.

"Hurry, hurry," Misaki repeated and went ahead of Mikan, walking faster to the ballroom. "We're late!"

"I'm going, I'm going," Mikan said, trying to keep up with Misaki. It was just too darn hard to walk in the high heels that she was wearing.

"We're almost there," Misaki announced proudly and walked through the large doors that lead to a room filled with soft music. She walked in, too excited to wait for Mikan.

"Wait, Misaki-san!" Mikan ran and finally reached the doors. She stepped on her overly long dress and tripped, letting out a loud "Ow!" along with the thud of her body on the floor. The music ceased and raised her head to find eyes on her. "H-Hello," she said and let out a nervous laugh.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** To be honest, I didn't really feel like updating. Sorry. But since I wasn't able to update last week because of my trip and all. Well, I hope this chapter was okay at least. .__. If it was disappointing, well, I promise that the later chapters are going to be much better! The following chapter might be one of them. ;D Oh, and if you have any ideas, I would love to hear them! I kind of have the ending planned out already though and some parts of the story.  
**

**Review please. Flames are highly accepted. :)  
**

**Ja,**

**-Aimee**


	4. 3: A Not So Happy Reunion

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

**Warning: AU. Possible Somewhat OOC.  
**

* * *

-

**Chapter Three: A Not So Happy Reunion  
**

**-**

It was already dark and few streetlights and gas lamps were lit up on the streets. Natsume was still about the town, still searching for his beloved brunette. It's been hours since he started searching for her and he has had no luck so far. Even Youichi was helping him and hasn't found her yet either.

He had just exited a pub; he doubted that Mikan would be there, but he checked anyway.

Near an alleyway not so far from the pub were a few burly men sitting on barrels. He passed by them without doing so much as glancing at them, which somehow offended them, probably because they were used to being feared because of their big built bodies. They stood up and followed Natsume, not bothering to hide their presences, which they never should have done. One placed a hand on the shoulder of the Prince of Hell. "You think you're tough, eh, pretty boy?"

The raven-haired prince turned around slowly to face who dared to touch him and wasted his time while he needed to find his precious Mikan.

"Give us all your money and beg for forgiveness and we _might _just let you go," one of them said.

Natsume chuckled. His small chuckled turned into a laugh; a laugh that made their skin crawl. He raised his head higher, his eyes meeting theirs; his red ruby eyes which burned of malicious fury felt like it could burn them alone. But Natsume wouldn't let them off just like that. No, especially not when he was in a mood like this. What he was about to do was much, much worse. "You're the ones who should be begging on your knees." His infamous smirk appeared on his lips. "But then again, even if you begged, you won't have any mercy from me. Especially not today."

They gasped, seeing a black shadow-like creature arise from behind Natsume, its grin wide and evil. They began to back away and broke out in cold sweat. "Monster!" another one of the men shouted. They tried to make a run for it, but it was too late. They were engulfed in Natsume's flames, their eerie cries being heard. The smell of their burning flesh a horrid smell, especially to the human nose. Natsume was aware of that;and as much as he wanted to give those men slow, painful deaths, he had to keep his identity hidden. The stench didn't last long; within a few seconds, all of those men had been burnt to ashes.

He walked away, continuing on his search for Mikan. He wasn't going to forgive anyone who dared to cross his path tonight.

--

Mikan got ready to help herself up, a deep red blush spread out across her cheeks out of embarrassment. _"Stupid heels. Stupid long dress. Stupid masquerade ball," _she complained inside. She stopped ranting silently when she saw someone holding out his hand to her to help her up. She gladly took it and thanked him.

"You look beautiful," he whispered into her ear and she instantly knew that the one who helped her was none other than the king himself. She shook her head in disagreement, her blush deepening. "Look around you," he said. She did as she was told; and found out that what he said was true. People were staring at her with awe and even jealousy. Though their faces were covered with masks, it was clear that they were all amazed at her beauty. She looked down at the floor, avoiding everyone's gazes.

"May I have this dance?" Tsubasa asked her to take off the attention from her, knowing that she felt uneasy. The music began to play once again and Mikan had no other choice but to give her savior a dance. They slowly made their way to the middle of the ballroom, dancing to a soft waltz.

"I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible dancer," Mikan apologized.

"Don't be silly. You're doing pretty good."

"How did you know that it was me?" she asked, referring to how he knew that the person who tripped was her.

"Because," he let out a little chuckle. "Even though you had a mask on, you were still the most beautiful person in the room."

"Stop lying," she said, remembering Misaki. She was pretty sure that Misaki was in love with him. She had a feeling that Tsubasa felt the same way about Misaki but just didn't know yet. She thought that he was probably just intrigued by how she looked and would soon get over her.

"But I'm not lying."

She shook her head. "You're going to help me find the inn right?" she asked, deliberately changing the subject.

"Yeah. According to the information that you've given us, my subjects have most likely found it. It was mostly because of the part when you told us that the inn keeper had long pink hair; not a lot of people have pink hair, you know."

"Oh. When are we going? I really need to get back as soon as possible," Mikan said, her forehead beginning to crease with worry.

"Don't worry. We're leaving tonight. After the ball."

Her chocolate brown eyes became filled with joy. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"I can't wait."

"I know." He chuckled once again. Her bubbly and somewhat childish personality made him smile easily. He didn't know why but he didn't care. He thought that he finally found love; he thought that this was what love was supposed to be like. What he also didn't know was that Mikan made everyone feel like that because that's just how she is; the gentle nymph of the Great Sakura Tree who's smile alone made one feel warm inside.

Someone tapped Mikan's shoulder, making her jump a little. She and her partner stopped dancing and they both looked to see who wanted something from her.

It was a man with kind, joyous eyes. "May I please have this dance?" he asked and smiled softly.

"I-" she began, not knowing what to say. Mikan knew he wasn't a bad person at all but she didn't want to dance with him. She was worried that if she danced with him, she would get swept away again, like how she was swept away in the market with the large crowd of people. She sent Tsubasa a worried look, asking for help.

He understood her immediately. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that this young woman only came tonight because I told her that she only needed to dance with me once and she could leave," Tsubasa lied. "If I hadn't promised her that, she never would have honored me with even just one dance. There are plenty of others to dance with here and I'm sure you'll find someone to your liking. I really am sorry."

The man let out a disappointed "Oh," and watched Mikan and the king head toward the large doors and leave the room. They walked farther and farther away from the ballroom, the music getting fainter and fainter. Once they were out of everyone's sight, Tsubasa still didn't let go of Mikan's hand, continuing to drag her somewhere.

"Are we going to the inn now?" she asked and smiled.

"Not yet, not yet."

"Oh." She frowned. "But I thought you said that we would leave after the ball."

He stopped walking but didn't let go of Mikan's hand. He faced her and took off his mask with his free hand, then tossed it to the ground. He squeezed her hand tightly. "Just one more place to go," he said.

"But-"

"Please?" he looked at her with a pleading expression.

"O-Okay," she said hesitantly and continued to follow him to wherever he wanted to take her.

Soon after, they arrived to the palace garden. White flowers were about them, seeming all the better with the dim white lights that hung around the garden. Tsubasa brought her to the very heart of the garden, where a large fountain stood tall.

"This is the palace garden. The full moon is also out tonight. What do you think?"

"It's beautiful," she breathed out.

"Not as much as you."

She let out a small laugh. "Sure," she said sarcastically.

"I'm not kidding." He pulled her body close to his and took off her mask. "Such a face shouldn't be hidden. Ever." He brought her face closer to hers for a kiss. He felt his heart beat faster, his cheeks becoming hotter as his face neared hers. His eyes were focused on her red lips which looks tempting and soft to kiss. He closed his eyes, ready to give the fair maiden his kiss. It was a bold action for him to do but he made up his mind to do what he has to do.

"No!" He felt a burning slap on his left cheek from Mikan. "I'm sorry," she said in a quivering voice, slowly backing away from Tsubasa.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, obviously confused. "I love you," he said in a most sincere and subtle voice. His indigo eyes said the same.

Mikan shook her head slowly, the ringlets at the edge of her hair bouncing continuously. "You don't. You have someone else who you love."

"No! I don't. I know that it's you. I've never felt this way before; I know that it's love. Your personality alone can make me smile. I have never seen such beauty as your own; I have never wanted something as much as I want you... I don't know... There's this warm feeling that I have when I'm with you."

"You don't love me," the brunette insisted. "You love someone else; and so do I."

"If what I am feeling is not love, then what is it?" he asked bitterly, refusing to accept the fact that what he was feeling was not indeed the mysterious feeling of loving another as one's life-long partner. He was angry that he did not know what love was and he was aging quickly; he was already at the ripe age of twenty-one and probably even had to choose someone to be his queen soon, but he still didn't know what the sweet feeling of love was.

"Be practical. You've known me for only about a day. That is definitely not love," she said softly, not wanting to anger him any more than he already was. "You know you love someone when just her smile makes you smile; or her being happy makes you happy. You would do anything to make her life easier."

Tsubasa inhaled, thinking about someone who could fit those descriptions. There were a few, but he wasn't convinced.

"You get jealous when she's with other guys and you want to be the only guy that she's close to. You don't even want her to talk about other guys around you, even if she just had a crush on them in the past," she continued.

The overly familiar face of a red-headed someone appeared in his head, but he refused to believe that what he felt for her was love.

"You would do anything to make her feel at ease when she cries; because it's really painful just to look at her face when she cries. It feels like you could run out of breath at any moment and it feels like your hearts aches."

He stayed silent, still not convinced.

"Oh, and you probably tease her a lot since you don't know what else to do with her," Mikan added. But that was all the stubborn king needed to believe that the girl's face that kept popping in his head at Mikan's descriptions was the one he loved. He knew that he could never view or treat someone like he did with her. Yes, she was special to him indeed and he knew it was true.

Tsubasa looked away. "I _might _have someone who I feel that way towards," he admitted quietly, calmer now.

"Is it Misaki-san?" Mikan asked innocently.

"D-Don't be ridiculous!" he said and began to turn bright red immediately. "Anyway, we need to get to this inn so you could meet this 'Natsume' as soon as possible, right?" She nodded quietly. "I'll go with you to your room. I'll be waiting outside while you change, of course. I'm no fiend." He chuckled. "And this Natsume person, he's the one _you _love, right?"

"Yes. He's the one who I love and cherish," she said quite frankly, oblivious to the king's attempt to tease her.

"He's one lucky guy."

"No, I'm the lucky one," Mikan replied, and went ahead of Tsubasa to get changed in her room, leaving him in puzzlement.

It didn't take long until Mikan came back outside wearing her long brown cloak with the hood already on her head.

"Let's go. I'll take you to the inn, as promised."

She tilted her head to the side. "Aren't you going to wear anything to conceal your identity? I mean, you did last time since you're the king and all."

"Ah, you're right." He pulled his masquerade mask out of his pocket and placed it on his face; he picked it up earlier while going to Mikan's room. He brought her to a stable and took out a black stallion from its cubicle. He hoisted Mikan up on it and then got onto it himself, sitting behind Mikan and grabbing onto the horse's reins. "I know how to get out of here. Misaki and I used to escape from the castle often when we were kids. That's how I manage to get out of the castle unnoticed."

"How long is it going to take us to get there?"

"About twenty minutes. This horse is pretty fast; it's mine. His name is Cherry."

"Cherry?"

"Don't ask. Misaki named him."

"Oh."

"Don't worry about falling. I'm here to prevent that." He smiled at her, his kingly aura and power around him.

"Thank you." She smiled back at him, letting him feel warm again. "Thank you so much." _"I can't wait to see Natsume. Just wait a bit longer, Natsume-kun. I'm almost there. Just a little bit longer..."_

They heard the stallion's hooves galloping against the stony ground of the town, no longer quiet from galloping on the soft earth as they were nearing the designated inn. Mikan had her eyes closed since she had gotten a bit drowsy from the cold night breeze and the repetitive trotting sound of the horse's hooves. She felt too comfortable and even forgot for a while that she was going to see her beloved soon.

She felt the great stallion gradually slowing down and opened her eyes little by little. _"This place looks familiar," _she thought, remembering the small buildings and whatnot near the inn. Tsubasa pulled on the reins; and Cherry stopped.

He jumped down from the horse. "Come," he told the brunette and placed his hands on her hips, ready to help her down from the horse.

"This place... We're here," she announced drowsily and got down from the horse. Mikan blinked her eyes and rubbed them, thinking that her eyes were playing tricks on her. But what she was seeing was no hallunation: it was real.

A figure stood before them, his fists balled on either side of him. "You," he said in a deadly tone. "What have you done to _my_ Mikan?" The clouds that were covering the full moon were moved by the night winds once again, revealing the bright, round moon, its moonlight showing Natsume's face clearly.

"Holy crap," Tsubasa said and nearly jumped. "The Natsume you were talking about... Was the Prince of Hell?!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**** This chapter was a bit short, but I hope you liked it nonetheless. :) And I ask all you readers to pray for my grandmother who is in critical condition. The reason I wasn't able to update sooner was because I was visiting her in the hospital in Texas and I'm from New York, so yeah. Thanks for reading. :)  
**

**Review please. Flames are highly accepted. :)  
**

**Ja,**

**-Aimee**


	5. 4: The Gods Start to Act

-

**Chapter Four: The Gods Start to Act  
**

**-**

Tsubasa began to back away slowly, thinking about the huge mess that he's gotten himself into.

Natsume began to advance toward the king of Ravinia, the mere thought him doing anything to his beloved nymph made him burn hotter than hell itself.

"Natsume, wait! Calm down!" Mikan half-yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down," Tsubasa agreed and made Natsume stuck in place using his shadow Alice, although he was reluctant to do so. He didn't want it to seem like he was challenging the Prince of Hell or anything.

"Natsume, stop it," Mikan pleaded and hugged him tightly. "He didn't do anything wrong; he actually helped me."

Natsume stopped, his burning ruby eyes looking down at Mikan; they had a fiercer and more ominous look than before. "It doesn't matter," he said darkly and shoved Mikan aside as gently as he could manage—which was a difficult thing for him to do since he was already on the verge of losing control because of his anger.

Fireballs surrounded him, making Tsubasa's Shadow Alice useless and rendering himself free from it. He continued to advance toward Tsubasa, his body becoming covered in hot, blazing fire that made Tsubasa sweat even more.

"Please, stop," Tsubasa pleaded, not knowing what to do. He's just figured out what love is and now he was going to die? He sweared at the person who gave him his cursed star mark on his cheek, blaming that person for his unluckiness.

"Die. Human." A malicious smirk formed on his lips.

"No!" Mikan yelled; a blue light enveloped the three of them, leaving them all frozen in place. The blue light disappeared just as fast as it had appeared, leaving the Mikan, Tsubasa, and Natsume bewildered. Natsume blinked, his fire gone; he tried to use up more, but he could summon no fire to use.

"What the hell... was that?" he grunted and sent Tsubasa a murderous glare. "What did you do?" he asked and narrowed his eyes at him. _How could a mere human distinguish my flames? _**(A/N: No one knows that Mikan has the Nullification Alice yet.)**

"I didn't do anything, honest." Tsubasa raised both hands and took a few more steps backward. "I sincerely apologize if I have offended you in anyway." He kneeled on one knee and bowed his head.

Mikan, on the other hand, rushed to Natsume's side and hugged him tightly, her hood coming off. "I'm sorry," she said, tears flowing from her eyes. "Please don't hurt anyone. I'm sorry I didn't listen. I'm sorry that I didn't stay when you told me to. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologized, her hands tightly clenching his clothes.

He inhaled, and closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax. He hugged Mikan tightly, relieved that she was okay and not hurt. "Idiot. Never do that again. I'm just glad that you're safe."

"Okay, I promise," she sniffed and buried her face into his chest, inhaling his scent. "I missed you," she whispered.

Natsume looked at Tsubasa, who was frozen in place, waiting for a response from Natsume. "You," Natsume said, causing Tsubasa to snap his head up immediately, "Leave, human. I'll ignore this incident. I think I'm feeling merciful right now. Leave before I change my mind," he ordered, wanting to be alone with Mikan; he also didn't want to let him see her angelic face, since she was, after all, his nymph.

The shadow caster obeyed and left immediately. Although, he couldn't help but chuckle at his near-death experience. He had just witnessed how the one who was supposed to the cruelest inhabitant of hell care for someone. He wished them the best luck and was thankful for meeting someone like Mikan, because of her kindness, her cheerful smile, and because she helped him figure out what love was.

Natsume broke from the embrace and took a good look at her. "You look ugly," he said bluntly. She looked up at him and pouted in response. He wiped her tears with his hand and flashed one of his rare smiles at her. _Idiot._ He placed her hood back on her head gently. "Come," he held her hand in his and entered the inn. "Let's rest."

She nodded and followed obediently. "I'm really sorry, Natsume."

He faced her. "It's okay." He kissed her forehead and smiled once again.

--

Some place in the world below the ground, a group of three females were surrounding small a pool of water, watching their prince and the nymph from the pool.

One cackled in delight. "We've found him! We've finally found Natsume-dono."

"Ah, we have. And that insolent nymph with him," another said.

The third had a displeased look on her face. "Such insolence should be punished, don't you agree, sisters?"

The other two nodded. "Indeed. It is her to blame for the prince leaving Hell, where he rightfully belongs."

"Mouri, come," the first ordered icily. A shadow appeared a few meters behind her.

"You called?" the shadow asked.

"We need you to take care of a pest," they said in unison. "Sakura Mikan is her name. A despicable nymph who is interfering with Hell's work. Once she's gone then Prince Natsume will come back to us; and all will be well. Your alias will be Mouri Reo. Take care of her for us, won't you?"

"Underssssstood," he hissed and disappeared.

"Any obstacles will be taken care off. Sakura Mikan _will _disappear."

--

Mikan opened her eyes slowly, rays of sunlight from the morning sun entering through the window. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Natsume? Where are you?" she asked drowsily when she saw that he wasn't by her side.

As if on cue, he stepped out of the bathroom with only a towel to cover his lower body. "You called?"

The brunette looked at him from head to toe, eyeing him slowly. His raven hair dripping with water making him seem more erotic than usual and his muscular yet fit body revealed. "A-Ah," she answered and looked away, feeling her cheeks become hot because of all the blood rushing to them.

He smirked upon seeing her reaction and walked toward her. He got onto the bed, towering her petite body in with his glory. "Is there anything that you want?" he said in an ever so tempting and a most enticing voice.

She bravely looked at him face to face, her brown orbs staring into his ruby red ones. "I love you," she said clearly, both sincerity and desire written all over her face.

He smirked. "I know." He lowered himself and his lips met hers. He kissed her sweetly yet passionately. He stopped to let her breath, caressing her cheek gently with his right hand. Her rosy cheeks turned even redder.

He crawled off of the bed and went to get changed into proper clothes, leaving Mikan lying down on the bed, flustered. "We have to leave soon. If we stay in one place for a long time then that'll make it easier for 'them' to find us."

Mikan let out a disappeared "Oh," and sat up on the bed. She fiddled with her fingers, looking as if she wanted to say something. "Natsume, can we. . . Can we. . . Um. . . Oh, never mind."

He put his shirt on and quirked an eyebrow at her. "What is it?"

"I was wondering if we could, um. . . You know, spend some time together," she said sheepishly, knowing how crucial it was for them to get to the Land of Alices as soon as possible.

"Mikan," he said heavily and rubbed his temples, "you know that we don't have any time to lose. We can't just do as we please. When we get to the Land of Alices, I promise we can do whatever you want." He got a small box from a table and sat beside her, hoping to cheer her up with his present. He opened the small box, revealing two small hoop earrings, each having two red stones on them.

"Natsume, you shouldn't have," she looked at him with an endearing expression. Those earrings were the ones that she saw in the jewelry shop window when they first got to Ravinia. "They're beautiful. The red color reminds me of your eyes," she told him and smiled sweetly. "Thank you!" She hugged him tightly, her smile becoming wider.

"I kind of threw out the rubies and replaced it with Alice Stones. I have two extra ones just in case you lose those or use them up." He handed her the small box that contained the earrings and took another one out of his pocket. "For your protection. I can't be around you all the time, so this is what's going to take my place while I'm away."

She put the earrings on and opened the second box and held one of the extra earrings out to Natsume in her small hand. "For you. Please?"

He took the one earring from her palm hesitantly.

"Do you have any ear piercings?" she asked.

"Ah," he answered, "but I only wear one cuff earring on my right ear."

"Wear it okay? Natsume-kun needs protection too, even if he is the unrivaled Prince of Hell."

He placed the earring on his left ear, doing as his beloved wished, in hopes of making her happy.

"They are Alice Stones of the Demon Summoning Alice. It's from a trusted friend. Use it whenever you think it's best."

"Okay."

"We still have to visit two others while on the way to that land. I need their Alices to protect you as well."

She stayed quiet and sent Natsume a pleading look. "Can we please go to just _one _place? Please?"

"Fine. But we'll only be there for an hour."

Her eyes twinkled in delight. She repeatedly said "Thank you," annoying Natsume while doing so.

"Hurry up and get ready then."

"Okay," she said in a bubbly voice and scurried off of the bed. He chuckled while watching her; she somehow managed to trip in the process of getting clothes and running to and fro the bathroom. _Really, now. There's no one as idiotic and as adorable like my Mikan._

--

"What is that Natsume up to?!" the blond god yelled in frustration. He took one of his thunderbolts and threw it to the surface that he was stepping on, hearing a loud crackle once it landed. He knew it would startle those who lived on Earth, and that they would know that he was angry. He was the king of gods of the world above, but he definitely wasn't the only one who was angry. Several other gods from both heaven and hell were angry because of what Natsume did. "He prefers that, that nymph over my daughter?!" he thundered.

"Calm down, honey," his wife said, trying to soothe him. "He'll come back. Don't worry, Natsume will get married to our daughter. He'll realize that what he did was wrong soon enough."

"Yes, I agree with the goddess Nogi Haruka. I agree that you should calm down, Yuusuke-dono; and I also agree that what Natsume did was very foolish, indeed," another one of the gods said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the frog on his shoulder letting out a croak. "If I'm not mistaken, those from the world underneath have already taken action."

"Jinno, if they do not marry, then we have no choice but to go to war. All that chaos is unwanted and tiresome," the god Nogi Yuusuke replied and rubbed his temples. "Dammit, what has that child done..."

"Daddy, is everything alright?" a young girl with cerulean blue eyes asked softly. Her wavy golden-yellow hair fell down to her waist, shining luminously. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her gently.

"Nothing, Ruka, everything is perfectly fine."

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Holy crap! Yes, I made Ruka into a girl. And yes, Natsume is supposed to get married to her. How do you like that?! And Jinno-sensei is a god. Haha. Oh, and I also made up Ruka's parents' names since I don't really know what they are. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to update it on my birthday but I didn't get a chance to. Sorry for the delay. Oh, and I need help with brainstorming some obstacles for Mikan and Natsume while trying to get to the Land of Alice. If you have anything on mind, then that would be excellent. Thank you for reading. :D & Sorry if this chapter was a bit short. If you want to see a picture of Natsume and Mikan that I found that would look good for this story, the link is on my profile. :) I didn't draw it; it's just fan art that I found.  
**

**Review please. Flames are highly accepted. :)  
**

**Ja,**

**-Aimee**


	6. 5: A Python and a Queen

-

**Chapter Five: A Python and a Queen  
**

**-**

At the moment, Hyuuga Natsume and Sakura Mikan were sitting side by side at the beach, watching the waves retreat and come back to shore and repeat, the sun setting slowly with its pink and orange hues, the seagulls above flying in circling motions. The smell of the salty air wasn't unpleasant at all and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks that were in the ocean was somehow pleasing to the ears. They weren't going to stay there long, but Mikan was happy anyway. She knew that Natsume was giving up some time so that she could have her fun.

Mikan rested her head on Natsume's shoulder, kicking her shoes off and burying her bare feet in the sand afterward. How she wish time would stop right then and there; everything seemed so perfect, so _right_, and this brief moment was one of the very rare times that she had to spend time alone with Natsume with no worries or whatsoever.

"Natsume?" Mikan whispered.

"Hn."

"Don't you just love the sunset?"

"Hn."

"Natsume?"

"Hn."

"Don't you wish we could stay like this forever?"

He focused his eyes on her, able to picture her saddened and wishful face. "Hn," he agreed.

Mikan smiled, understanding her beloved even though all he said was "Hn." The different tones at which he said them made her understand how he felt and she knew that this was his own way of expressing how he felt for her.

"Natsume?"

"Hn."

"I love you," she said with much serenity.

He kissed the top of her head, taking in her sweet scent. "I love you, too." She smiled, feeling like the luckiest living being. It wasn't very often that a supposed cold and dangerous prince from Hell told you that he loved you, now was it?

Much to Mikan's dismay, a small sand demon appeared, making itself known. "Natsume-sama, I have news for you," it said, lowering its head in respect to the great prince. Natsume nodded, motioning for it to continue. "Hijiri Youichi-sama asked me to speak to you in private," it said monotonously, doing as Youichi had told it.

Mikan looked at Natsume, a sad smile on her face. "Go," she told him, and he left with the demon to receive the gray-haired demon caster's message. "I'll be back soon. I promise. Don't get into any trouble," he whispered to her before she left. It would only take a few seconds or minutes or so; even Mikan couldn't get into much trouble by herself. . .Right? She was alone at the beach, sitting quietly, waiting patiently for Natsume, so nothing drastic could happen during the short time that he was gone, right? Not really. She wasn't alone like she thought she was; not so far away, a pair of snake-like yes watching her carefully.

Slithering furtively toward the brunette, it arrived just behind her. In an instant, the python took the form of a human with a reddish-bronze hair color and with purple eyes. _This is going to be easy, _it thought, _those three sisters will praise me endlessly after I get the prince back to Hell and rid of this nymph. _"Hello," he greeted as smoothly as possible.

She looked up at him, innocence and purity written all over her. Upon seeing her face, he froze: she looked similar to a nymph that he had loved long ago, Azumi Yuka, who was killed by humans.

"Yes?" she asked, tugging on his pants to get his attention.

Her action made him snap out of his thoughts, his expression now softer, kinder. A thought came to mind: _Maybe I don't have to get rid of her... All they said was that I had to get the prince back and separate the two. Yes, I don't have to devour her, I can make her my own. _"You look amazing," he complimented.

Mikan just realized that her hood wasn't on and that _he, _whoever he was, could see her face clearly. Immediately, she pulled her hood onto her head to hide her face.

The python couldn't help but chuckle. "There's no need to be afraid. My name is Mouri Reo." Activating his Alice, the Voice Pheromone Alice, he said, "Come with me, won't you?" He thought that this was going to be easy. He thought that he was going to get what he wanted without any trouble at all. But he was wrong.

"No," she said frankly and backed away from him, surprising him.

_What the_— "Are you sure? Come, won't you?" he asked, trying to use his Alice on her again, but with full power this time.

"No," she said again, worry obvious on her countenance. "I don't want to. I want to stay with Natsume." Her hands trembled: she was afraid. She didn't want to be separated from Natsume again. She didn't want to cause any more trouble for him.

Reo pursed his lips in curious delight, wondering why she wasn't affected by his Alice. He neared the nymph and raised his hand to caress her face; she yelled "Natsume!" and the python heard footsteps coming rapidly toward his direction. He grimaced, unhappy to be disturbed while he was just starting to have fun. "I'll see you again," he told Mikan and dove into the ocean, reverting back into a snake once he was deep in the water, not letting Mikan see what he really was. He didn't need her to tell the prince that an inhabitant of Hell was trying to get in their way.

Natsume appeared within seconds, the sand demon gone. "Mikan!" He had his sword ready in his hand, a cautious look on his face. "What happened?"

"There was a—" she stopped herself, having a tugging feeling inside that she shouldn't tell Natsume what happened. She definitely didn't want him to worry any more. He already had enough problems as it is. "—a shadow," she finished, pretending to be relieved. "I'm sorry! I thought it was. . .something else."

He hugged her tightly. "Thank goodness you're fine."

"Y-Yeah," she stuttered. "Sorry about that," she said in the cheeriest tone she could manage.

Natsume let go of her and stared at her carefully. "You're trembling," he stated, "and you stuttered." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Natsume of all beings, was no fool. In fact, he was known to be a genius despite already having power and good-looks, considered as perfect by many.

She began to sob for no reason, and he stopped questioning her at once.

Gently, he wiped her tears and planted a light kiss on her lips. "We're leaving now. Youichi told me where we can get the second Alice Stone that you need."

"Okay," she said quietly.

Again, they were off to get the second Alice Stone. "They say it's in Dardania, a place where I wouldn't really want to go to," Natsume said, sheathing his sword, "but we have no choice. Mikan, we can't be careless. It's about a week away if we don't have any delays. We also have to pass through a small town called Jestown," he explained.

"Okay," the brunette repeated.

"Good. Let's go then." Without another word, he began to walk away, Mikan silently trailing behind him.

She watched his back, as she always had done. A sudden impulse came over her and she increased her pace, now walking beside him. She took his hand; he looked at her strangely; she entwined their fingers together and smiled. "We'll do this together, right?"

"Ah," he answered. "Together."

_I won't just watch behind you and be a damsel in distress. I'll help you in whatever way I can, Natsume. I'll walk beside you and keep you company, instead of just walking silently like a useless ghost behind you._

_---_

It has been two days since Natsume and Mikan have began their journey to Jestown, then to Dardania. Irritated and quickly running out of patience, Natsume gripped his trusted sword tightly in one hand. He held Mikan's hand with his other hand and walked faster, causing Mikan to stumble. She couldn't keep up with Natsume since her legs were nowhere near being as long as his were. He apologized and helped her up, his irritation not subsiding in the least. It all started during nighttime, when they left the beach and started their journey. They were quietly lying down near a bonfire made by Natsume; Mikan was fast asleep while Natsume watched her, occasionally hearing her murmur something about Howalons and bears and cherry trees. It was then that monsters of all sorts have started to ambush and attack them, each batch of monsters being stronger and better than the last.

Now, there was one again.

"Mikan, duck. Now," he ordered and she immediately duck.

In the blink of an eye, Natsume slashed something that was behind Mikan, it's head falling down to the ground and rolling, stopping at Mikan's feet. She screamed out of fright upon seeing the detached head that had touched her. She thought that she was getting used to seeing all these beings die and be reunited with the earth, but she wasn't. This death was the bloodiest and most gruesome that she's seen so far, and Natsume was being "nice" to the monsters.

---

Mikan pulled her hood back before they arrived at the town. A huge arch with **JESTOWN **written on it greeted them once they got there, active and friendly people greeting them afterward. Mikan waved to them while Natsume just grunted and tried to get past the crowd. Once again, they arrived at an inn.

"Ah, it's you again!" Mikan exclaimed and pointed at the pink-haired person who was working at the counter.

"Excuse me?" the pink-haired girl behind the reception desk asked, not understanding what Mikan meant.

Natsume shook his head and let go of the brunette.

"You were in Ravinia! How did you get here so fast?"

Another girl with midnight blue eyes and hair who was about the same age as the pink-haired girl came.

Mikan pointed to her too. "You were there too! In Ravinia! ...I think."

Both the blue-haired girl and the pink-haired girl looked at each other then laughed.

"I'm Ogasawara Nonoko," said the blue-haired one.

"And I'm Umenomiya Anna," said the bubbly pink-haired one.

"We're cousins with the people you met," Nonoko explained.

"There are a lot of us in different towns, and we all look very similar and somehow have the same names," Anna added.

Mikan let out a childish "O_h-h-h-h-h_."

"We'll tell all our other cousins about you two so that you guys don't have to keep on introducing yourselves over and over again." Anna glanced at Natsume. "Here is the key to your room. Be careful while in this town; even though everyone here seems endlessly energetic, there have been some problems in this town for a while."

"Hn," Natsume said and made his way to their room.

A girl with green, permed hair was sitting on a chair, sipping a cup of tea when the couple entered their room.

Mikan stared at the girl, taking note of her permed hair immediately. She forced herself not to laugh at it; though she did admit that the girl had an elegant air about her and was very pretty and all—it was just her hair that kind of made her look. . .strange, to Mikan.

Natsume closed the door and sat on the four poster bed.

The green-haired woman placed her teacup on its small saucer and looked at Mikan from head to toe. She walked up to the nymph and yanked her hood off.

"What do you think you're—" Mikan began but was cut off by the woman who she already decided to call "Permy."

"Take off that cloak," she ordered.

"But—" Mikan tried to protest.

"Now!" Permy half-yelled impatiently, and Mikan hurriedly took off the brown cloak.

Permy backed away from the brunette and looked at her from head to toe and back, then sent her a glare. "You must be that nymph, Sakura Mikan."

She turned to the prince who was now staring at the ceiling with much boredom. "Natsume-sama, it's nice to see you again," she said with a bright smile, changing her personality easily, making Mikan gape at her in surprise.

"What business do you have with me, Shouda Sumire? I thought that a fairy queen must look over her people at all times and be responsible and all that crap," he said stoically. "Some fairy queen you are."

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Aaah, that was kind of lame. I added fairies to Greek mythology. I hope that's okay. ___ I don't know what to write anymore! I have all the crucial events written down except I don't know how to write the small, unimportant details that lead to those events... Sorry if my story is disappointing and has a slow plot. More characters will be introduced next chappie. :) I hope at least some of you enjoyed this disappointing chapter :'( Maybe I should of just stuck to making this story a oneshot... And thank you for all your reviews :) They made me happy. lol  
**

**Review please. Flames are highly accepted. :)**

**Ja,**

**-Aimee**


End file.
